THE Western Rams 2015 coaching staff was unveiled yesterday, with Orange CYMS captain-coach Mick Sullivan named to mentor the senior squad – and with good reason.
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Sullivan guided Western Division’s under 18 squad this year, and has coached CYMS for the past half decade for three Group 10 premier league titles and another grand final appearance.
Sullivan has been promoted to replace incumbent head Dennis Moran, who stepped aside, opting to concentrate on his new role as captain-coach of Parkes Spacemen.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge of first grade,” Sullivan said.
“I almost felt a bit out of my depth in the 18s last year. There was just a bit too much protocol, it didn’t really suit my coaching style.
“But, hopefully with a bit more freedom in first grade, we can get a good squad together and have a real crack.”
Western will once again compete in the Country Rugby League Regional Tier 2 Championship, and Sullivan said he will work to select a squad using the pre-season, club form and the annual Western Representative cluster as a guide.
“There’s a lot of serious talent floating around both Group 10 and Group 11,” Sullivan said. “I’ve got an idea of some guys I want in the squad, and hopefully I can prompt both Groups a bit into who they pick so I can have a closer look at them.
“Of course, these guys need to want to play. I’ll get around a lot of the pre-season games and hopefully get a good look, so we can get a good squad together.”
With Sullivan named to coach, speculation has surrounded the 74-game NRL veteran coming out of representative retirement, but he vetoed the idea almost immediately.
“Look, if I get through the first bit of the year OK I might think about it, but I don’t think I’d be up to that level any more,” he said.
“I wasn’t even up to club footy level last year, so I don’t think I’d be selfish enough to even look at selecting myself.”
Forbes’ Cameron Greenhalgh will mentor the Rams’ under 18 team in 2015 while former Group XI, Western Division, Balmain and North Sydney representative Bernard Wilson will coach the under 16s.
All three Western squads will be named after the 2015 representative cluster to be staged at Caltex Park in Dubbo on Saturday, May 2.
The representative schedule for 2015 will follow a similar format to 2014, but will be finalised after a CRL Management meeting today.